Newsletters: Newsbites

SANS NewsBites is a semiweekly high-level executive summary of the most important news articles that have been published on computer security during the last week. Each news item is very briefly summarized and includes a reference on the web for detailed information, if possible.

Spend five minutes per week to keep up with the high-level perspective of all the latest security news. New issues are delivered free every Tuesday and Friday.

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a draft of its Guide to Cyber Threat Information Sharing for public comment. "The goal of the publication is to provide guidance that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of defensive cyber operations and incident response activities, by introducing safe and effective information sharing practices." NIST will be accepting comments through November 28. -http://net-security.org/secworld.php?id=17554-http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/800-150/sp800_150_draft.pdf[Editor Note (Murray): All infrastructure enterprises should read and respond to this guidance. Response should begin with comparing the maturity of one's program to that implied by the guidance. However, it should be noted that these recommendations do not imply, suggest, or require the sharing of PII, IP or, business plans or programs. Compliance is good business and does not require the granting of any special legislative authority or immunity. (Northcutt): The document is well worth reading, The concepts of security intelligence and and information sharing are crucial. In fact they may mandated by law: -https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2588]**************************** SPONSORED LINKS ****************************** 1) Build bridges between Security and Development. Register for this webinar on Secure Agile featuring Adrian Lane of Securosis and Chris Eng of Veracode. http://www.sans.org/info/170652

London Police Arrest Three In Connection with Theft of Millions from ATMs (October 29, 2014)

Police in London, UK, have arrested three people in connection with an ATM theft scheme that stole GBP 1.6 million (US $2.6 million) over three days in May. The targeted ATMs were standalone equipment and had been physically accessed to install malware, which allowed the thieves to withdraw large amounts of cash. According to police reports, the malware was not on the machines when they were later examined. -https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/10/29/arrests-made-after-specialist-malware-used-in-1-6-million-atm-heist/[Editor's Note (Murray): "Specialist malware" which disappeared before the authorities could see it is indistinguishable from fairy dust. ]

John Pescatore was Vice President at Gartner Inc. for fourteen years. He became a director of the SANS Institute in 2013. He has worked in computer and network security since 1978 including time at the NSA and the U.S. Secret Service.

Shawn Henry recently retired as FBI Executive Assistant Director responsible for all criminal and cyber programs and investigations worldwide, as well as international operations and the FBI's critical incident response. He is now president of CrowdStrike Services.

Stephen Northcutt teaches advanced courses in cyber security management; he founded the GIAC certification and was the founding President of STI, the premier skills-based cyber security graduate school, www.sans.edu.

Dr. Johannes Ullrich is Chief Technology Officer of the Internet Storm Center and Dean of the Faculty of the graduate school at the SANS Technology Institute.

Ed Skoudis is co-founder of CounterHack, the nation's top producer of cyber ranges, simulations, and competitive challenges, now used from high schools to the Air Force. He is also author and lead instructor of the SANS Hacker Exploits and Incident Handling course, and Penetration Testing course.

Michael Assante was Vice President and Chief Security Officer at NERC, led a key control systems group at Idaho National Labs, and was American Electric Power's CSO. He now leads the global cyber skills development program at SANS for power, oil & gas and other critical infrastructure industries.

Mark Weatherford is a Principal at The Chertoff Group and the former Deputy Under Secretary of Cybersecurity at the US Department of Homeland Security.

William Hugh Murray is an executive consultant and trainer in Information Assurance and Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Sean McBride is Director of Analysis and co-founder of Critical Intelligence, and, while at Idaho National Laboratory, he initiated the situational awareness effort that became the ICS-CERT.

Rob Lee is the SANS Institute's top forensics instructor and director of the digital forensics and incident response research and education program at SANS (computer-forensics.sans.org).

Tom Liston is a Senior Security Consultant and Malware Analyst for InGuardians, a handler for the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, and co-author of the book Counter Hack Reloaded.

Dr. Eric Cole is an instructor, author and fellow with The SANS Institute. He has written five books, including Insider Threat and he is a founder with Secure Anchor Consulting.

Mason Brown is one of a very small number of people in the information security field who have held a top management position in a Fortune 50 company (Alcoa). He leads SANS' efforts to raise the bar in cybersecurity education around the world.

David Hoelzer is the director of research & principal examiner for Enclave Forensics and a senior fellow with the SANS Technology Institute.

Gal Shpantzer is a trusted advisor to CSOs of large corporations, technology startups, Ivy League universities and non-profits specializing in critical infrastructure protection. Gal created the Security Outliers project in 2009, focusing on the role of culture in risk management outcomes and contributes to the Infosec Burnout project.

Alan Paller is director of research at the SANS Institute.

Brian Honan is an independent security consultant based in Dublin, Ireland.

David Turley is SANS operations manager and serves as production manager and final editor on SANS NewsBites.

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